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Forum Resident
Original Poster
#1 Old 2nd May 2019 at 5:28 PM Last edited by simmythesim : 2nd May 2019 at 5:39 PM.
I think I may have found a way to dramatically speed up loading and reduce TS3 lag.
This is pretty exciting stuff I discovered. It currently only works with the base game, but could 100% work for all EPs and SPs.
Video showing smooth BG 1.69 Gameplay

Notice how the gameplay is much smoother and lags a lot less. It also reduced load times for my Sunset Valley save to 20 seconds.
It's more of a proof-of-concept at this stage though.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 2nd May 2019 at 5:39 PM
Just for this thread looked up this relevant reddit post I remember that should be helpful nevertheless. Url self explanatory for what ideas it entices: https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/co...dingsave_times/

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Forum Resident
Original Poster
#3 Old 2nd May 2019 at 5:42 PM
Yeah I've read that post before. Didn't do much for me. I usually play for about 10 sim weeks then start a new save. I want to test my approach with all EPs and SPs, and then see how fast the game loads. That'll be the ultimate stress test!
No, scratch that. Playing Isla Paradiso without lag would be the ultimate stress test.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 2nd May 2019 at 5:48 PM
Honestly, would be cool If there was a thread (*hint hint for renaming*) with the innovative Share your ideas/ways to improve the game's performance! type of deal. Might even turn into pinned, but I digress.

Also, by any chance you're referring and the mod portrayed in the video is this one: http://modthesims.info/d/354281/the...iplier-mod.html ? Well actually that doesn't seem to it.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
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Original Poster
#5 Old 2nd May 2019 at 5:49 PM
Nope! It's entirely new stuff I made. Oof. Sorry, didn't notice there wasn't a thread dedicated to performance! Shows how often I wander into the TS3 forums here. :p
Mad Poster
#6 Old 2nd May 2019 at 6:01 PM
No no, that's not what I meant. I said it would be cool If there was one, but I'm just derailing :D

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Mad Poster
#7 Old 2nd May 2019 at 6:11 PM
Not to pee on the party, but that video is sped up by a factor of two. The camera behaviour is less floaty than default, with faster zoom than I've ever seen. It also appears to be a CC-free, base game only install. These things considered, nothing about this video seems to be out of the ordinary. It looks much more believable at half-speed, setting aside the fact that this plays the video back at 30 fps where the gameplay itself is probably rendering in the high 50s, or considerably more if uncapped.

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( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Mad Poster
#8 Old 2nd May 2019 at 6:15 PM
Speed three, but it runs smoothly. Thought it's a joke, but the name sounds very familiar.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
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Original Poster
#9 Old 2nd May 2019 at 6:22 PM Last edited by simmythesim : 2nd May 2019 at 6:37 PM.
AGuyCalledPi, trust me, this video was not edited in any way. If you wanted to, I could host a livestream showing it off.

This thing is real, unlike some other stuff I've seen over the years. Remember Project Vie? That supposed "sims competitor" that was just a hoax? This is 100% real, unlike that... thing or whatever it was.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 2nd May 2019 at 6:40 PM Last edited by SneakyWingPhoenix : 2nd May 2019 at 7:14 PM.
Yeah though, why game camera is in sych with the game's spped. Hosting a livestream would be a great idea, but then you would need to compile with someone's/collectives suggestions to proof it's not pre-recorded.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
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Original Poster
#11 Old 2nd May 2019 at 6:41 PM
Yeah. I can do that. I can have my sim do specific stuff to prove that it's not prerecorded. If I can pull that off, it will definitely prove that it's true. Either that, or I can read people's minds.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 2nd May 2019 at 7:00 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simmythesim
AGuyCalledPi, trust me, this video was not edited in any way. If you wanted to, I could host a livestream showing it off.

I'm just wondering why you're running a base game install, on what appears to be the same morning every new save starts in, in a notoriously lightweight world, with no apparent CC or script mods. And particularly how, despite this, your game camera and sound effects deviate from the vanilla game, but how playing the video back at half speed seems to cancel out both of these irregularities.

Do feel free to prove me wrong, of course, I do hope you're onto something, but I can't think of a whole lot of ways to make that video less impressive than it is. Maybe get a bigger world, a few gigabytes of CC, a bunch of graphics mods and then show us how it runs? It'd be something we'd all be a lot more thankful for than vague 20-second videos and pointless whataboutism.

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( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
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Original Poster
#13 Old 2nd May 2019 at 7:04 PM
The mod is very... hard to make, unfortunately. It took me days to convert the TS3 Base Game files to be faster. S3PE is not very good at handling a lot of files.

I'm currently developing a set of tools to automate this "conversion". It took me about 12 hours just for the last file to convert.
Mad Poster
#14 Old 2nd May 2019 at 7:08 PM
Without knowing anything about your process, I've seen you do some pretty cool things before so I imagine you're definitely onto something here. It's pretty hard to get the base game to lag, but a few minutes of regular gameplay would certainly win me over. Are you seeing any improvement in terms of loading in and out of CAS, going to Edit Town, going into and coming out of Build/Buy from Edit Town, and switching families? It'd be pretty damn exciting if you could optimize any part of it, really, but I imagine regular Live Mode gameplay won't really show much of a difference on video.

I have issues with that in a more visual sort of way, recordings of the game usually don't do it any favours. All the beautiful nuances are left out, be it simply because of the compression or the fact that there is no direct control of the gameplay. I personally go out of my way to record, render and upload in the highest quality possible.

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( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
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Original Poster
#15 Old 2nd May 2019 at 7:11 PM
Good points. I'll convert the rest of the packs I own. I only have Ambitions, Generations, Into the Future, Late Night, and University Life though. Maybe I should buy Island Paradise just to test the lag there.

See you when I finish my toolkit!
Mad Poster
#16 Old 2nd May 2019 at 9:19 PM
Super interesting- please keep us posted!

I always wondered if there were ways of simplifying the base game packages- there's definitely some bloat in there.
Mad Poster
#18 Old 3rd May 2019 at 2:49 PM Last edited by SneakyWingPhoenix : 3rd May 2019 at 8:05 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
I really wish MTS would already post up a guide on keeping the game clean. This topic is yet another "talked to death" topic that we keep finding ourselves repeating. Much of what is in that reddit link explaining that video is either already well known or completely outdated. There is only so much we can do with this old 32-bit game, some of which no mods can fix unless you do a complete overhaul of the game engine.

To improve your game:
1) System:
CPU: Though the game can run on much simpler systems such as a duo core, but to get the most out of it, you want at least a quad core so 2 cores can be dedicated to the game. With a good setup with the hardware below, a min of 3.0GHz is recommended, but lower than 4.0GHz, which might bottleneck.
GPU: A dedicated GPU is recommended b/c an integrated GPU shares resource with your CPU and RAM. The recommended GPU is Nvidia Level 5 or equivalent.
RAM: Min RAM should be 8GB, leaving a lot of headroom to run your OS and should you also surf the web. However, with the increase demand of RAM from modern web browsers, 12-16GB is the new recommended standard unless you close all programs while running TS3.
Drive: SSD is most definitely recommended to both increase game load time and "in game dynamic" loading time to reduce loading/bottleneck lag.

2) Mods/CCs - Keep mods and CCs down to a min. The more CCs you have, the more it bloats your game and increase chance of error 12. Mods, on the other hand, are not all the same. Some mods are heavier than other mods. Some mods will reduce performance greatly, while others may not. It all depends on the function of the mods. It is recommended you use CC Magic or other methods to combine your package mods, or convert sim3pack to package, and reduce the number of packages in the mods folder to a few larger files.

3) Keeping your game clean - Keep your game clean with NRAAS errortrap, overwatch, master controller. Routinely delete SNAPS with Kuree's savegame cleaner or do it manually. Also routinely delete jigs, placeholders in the game with MC. Keep your game clean and lean. However, after several generations it will still bloat. You'll either have to start a new game, or... use MC to delete all the "mini-sims" in the game. This will essentially destroy the family trees. However, you do not need to delete all of them. Just delete the ones pertaining to household you do not play. You may keep the minisims of your player controlled household (or any you choose) so you keep the family tree of only relevant families.

4) Various Game Improvement tips:
FPS Limiter - Nvidia Inspector or other FPS limiter to prevent runaway FPS. This is more for not burning out your GPU than for lags, but some have reported without FPS limiter it would create pulse lag. (Link to Recognize GPU) (Link to FPS Limiter)

Unpark your CPU - Parking CPU is a relative new thing that came out after TS3. It interferes with TS3 game operation by creating latency, which reduces performance. Unpark your CPU so all the cores are always available, this dramatically increases game efficiency and performance. (Link)

Using a RAMdisk - TS3 uses dynamic cache system for their cache files and thumbnails. You can greatly improve the game by putting these files on a RAMdisk. Also, DO NOT delete the cachefiles unless your game is damaged or broken. Removing the cachefiles after every game only means the game needs to regenerate them, which slows and lags your game until the cache are fully regenerated. You can also increase the cachefile size for your basegame worlds. (Link)

Routing Issue - Ellacharm's fixed routing worlds can fix some of this issue. However, generally this is one issue which cannot be resolved. NRAAS Overwatch helps by resetting stuck sims, but every now and then you're going to run into some. The worst kind are the water taxi/boat which is stuck unloading/loading passengers. This can literally bring a game to a dead freeze. NRAAS GoHere can remove water travel on certain worlds to prevent this. Other issues such as Latenight building shells with hidden rooms on the bottom can trap sims. It is recommended you remove all those hidden room markers, put in a public marker, paint it black, and provide a door for sims to walk out.

5) In Game suggestions:
Plant life - Lags can be created by harvestable plants. Do not have too many harvestable plants in your game. Even during winter when the plants are suppose to be dormant, they still runs scripts. I don't know what they do, but they grow I guess, if you have around 80-100 harvestables, it will seriously pulse lag your game. But anything less such as even 40 in the game will create some lag.

Detail Lots - This one is one I have not really considered until recently. TS3 is stupid in the way it is coded in this regard. When you are playing 1 lot, all the other lots around you up to 8 can be "loaded in detail," this doesn't just mean the outer shell is loaded, but every freakin' object placement is loaded. Case in point, it is actually smoother to play ONE 64x64 huge lot that is in the middle of nowhere than 9 (your lot + 8) smaller lots packed together in a tight downtown. The game actually loads ALL 9 lots. Reducing detail lots reduces the loading each time you visit a lot AND uses far less RAM, which reduces error 12.

Notable outdated:
1) DO NOT delete your cache!
2) That increase RAM thing is not what it means at all. If you are patched, your game already uses the max 3.4GB of RAM. There is no way around this limitation.
3) Vsync is to reduce visual tearing, but it doesn't really improve performance. In fact, vsync "reduces" performance often by increasing smoothness. If you game visual does not tear, you don't need vsync. Vsync is also not a FPS limiter. There are specific areas in Nvidia Inspector which limits FPS and/or use programs that can do this specifically.

Oh, I'm definintly will try this out as my laptop overheats and just see how much more I can upgrade the performance. Thing is though, might hard do so as I'm not savvy enough to know the technical details of what my rig is/has, therefor dunno how much to tweak things and what things refer to what. You could serve post this stuff in sites like sims wiki under Game Guide or whatever to give it some more transparency since it's really helpful info.

For FPS limiter idea, do I utilize two methods (recognize CPU and install fps limiter for reduce fps? Guess no point in saying that, when I just did that. I am hesitant to download and install the limiter, as I seen report in that MATY thread that it doesn't work for windowed mode of the game. I just don't like playing sans in that mode. Nevermind again.... I should have clicked and check what's the link about before making an assumstion Though my driver is intel, than nvidie, so what limiter would be applied for me?

ETA: Yeah, the step I followed help me through. A few days ago efore this, I also GraphicsRules file. I can say it gave the results I need. I didn't seem to pause, with the exception of one instance, when sims change their clothes as they no longer stand there idling hours as they use to be (despite wearing the outfits not once). Also, I manage get 5-6 sims to come and stay on the lot that I been struggling to create such scenarios). I'll have to experiment with more, but thank you a lot for this tips

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 4th May 2019 at 12:46 PM

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Scholar
#21 Old 4th May 2019 at 4:03 PM
uh... if it is on PGA (not soldered) I'd change the CPU and add another 4GB RAM ASAP. You probably cannot fit anything better than N2940 there (the same chip but 4 cores) but it will be worth it.

You use iGPU now. If it's the only option or not, you really *need* max memory in double channel configuration (4+4GB in this case).

// anyway, I never thought I'd say some like this, but... it's not really Sims3 capable machine. This is xULV starter line with 7.5W TDP, no matter what it will throttle like hell seriously breaking any power of this not very powerful chip at all.


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Mad Poster
#22 Old 4th May 2019 at 4:38 PM Last edited by SneakyWingPhoenix : 4th May 2019 at 6:34 PM. Reason: english?
Thanks. Yeah, I thought it wouldn't. The machine does somewhat manage to run it decently, but that's it. Well, I guess I could give it a break and return playing the game at the last machine's days before switching to a new affordable gaming tech.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Mad Poster
#23 Old 4th May 2019 at 5:20 PM
Yeah that machine is definitely up to spec for playing TS3, at least not beyond the base game and a handful of EPs. Based on my own experiences I'd say the minimum you'd want to go with is a recent i3 or any non-ancient i5 (I had a 3rd gen one until 2015, for reference), with 8 gigs of RAM and maybe a GTX 560 or some rough equivalent.....I had the competent but ultimately unsophisticated GTX 650 and it was a pretty solid card at the time. Pretty comfortable to run TS3 on, I'd say. Only had one gig of VRAM though which I think became an issue. If I were any wiser when it comes to clock speeds or the general existance of motherboards I'd have opinions about that as well but I'm actually not that knowledgeable for a PC gaming nerd.

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( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Scholar
#24 Old 4th May 2019 at 7:11 PM
the problem there is the chip TDP limitation (and probably the thermal solution in the machine, there's a reason why someone put that particular chip there). If you feel desperate you may try undervolt the CPU to try to bypass these limitations, but there won't be wonders. Even old TS2 might have sometimes a hard time (with certain amount of CC) on this.
And if the game works "decently enough" for you on this hardware, apparently your standards are seriously below mine


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
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